The Otherworldlies Read Online Free Page B

in the cave. Almost as if by reflex, Fern was on her hands and knees, making her way through the new hole. The sand stuck to her knees and palms. She was through to the other side in seconds.
    Fern gasped.
    She’d entered another room of the cave. Deep cracks in the top of the stone let shards of sunlight through to the floor of the hollowed-out dome. The stone room was about the size of a jungle gym and the bottom of it was a perfect circle. The air was cool and damp. Fern was overjoyed at the thought of being able to tell Sam of this new discovery.
    The walls were smooth, almost as if they were manmade. Fern scanned them first and then the floor. Her eyes focused on a line of faint writing in the very center of the room. She brushed the floor with her foot, clearing away sand, and the writing became clear.

    The carved handwriting was so perfect, even Mrs. Stonyfield would have given it high marks. Fern stared at the letters. Though she had no idea what they meant, she felt as if she’d seen them before, somewhere.
    She walked toward the opposite wall. Directly in front of her was a graffitilike image on the brown curved stone surface. She touched it with her hand. Though it looked as if it were drawn in chalk, it did not rub off. The picture was of a chamber similar to the one she was standing in. In the center was a white podium with an object resting on it. The perfectly black object looked like a sinister giant Easter egg. Its oval shape narrowed at the top.
    Fern heard voices drifting into the cave. She turned around. Thankfully, the cave was still empty.
    Her heart rattled in her chest. Fern’s adrenaline stores were finally running out, and as she looked around her, she began to feel unhinged.
    She was out of the cave and back into daylight in just under thirty seconds. The voices she had heard belonged to an elderly couple. They were at the cove’s far end, letting the tide lap over their bare feet as they chatted.
    Fern ran toward the path to the parking lot. Sand flew behind her and into her slip-ons. She knew she must look bizarre—the Episcopal school girl playing hooky in her full uniform, sprinting in the sand, her face caked with dirt and sweat. She looked over her shoulder, taking the stairs to the parking lot two at a time. Once there, she breathed a sigh of relief and slowed her pace, concentrating on what she needed to do next.
    She zeroed in on the brown building at the far end of the parking lot—the public rest rooms she’d used on many occasions. She circled the building. The side closest to the parking lot had a pay phone. Fern grabbed the receiver, which was hot to the touch from the morning sun. She held it to her ear and put her index finger to the dial pad. Shaking, she laid the receiver back on the hook. Overhead a bird with massive wings circled like an oversized buzzard.
    She took a deep breath, picked up the receiver again, hit 0, and then dialed her mother’s phone number. The automated operator took over after her mother picked up on the first ring.
    “You have an AT&T collect call. Caller, please state your name.” Fern took a large gulp of ocean air. There was silence on both sides of the call.
    “Caller, please state your name,” the automated voice repeated.
    “Fern McAllister,” she said. She tried to keep her voice from trembling, but failed miserably.

Chapter 3
the emergency conference
    “S amuel, where is your sister?” Mrs. Stonyfield said, interrupting her discussion of The Giver .
    “I don’t know.”
    Sam had been wondering the same thing for almost a half hour. His stomach convulsed, as if it had been invaded by dozens of worms.
    Although Sam had noticed his sister’s absence from English class immediately, it took Mrs. Stonyfield a full twenty minutes before she was aware of the fact that her most challenging student’s chair was empty. Sam, though terribly worried, had decided not to say anything for fear of getting Fern into trouble.
    “Did anyone see